Law

Is your office in harmony? Feng shui, the ancient art of placement, may enhance negotiations and profits, says a devotee

Article Abstract:

Feng shui, an art of placement based on ancient Chinese ideas of environmental harmony and order, can be used to analyze law firm environment and to make changes which perhaps leading to better negotiations and higher profits. The National Law Journal hired feng shui practitioner Reiko Nakayama to analyze Palo Alto, CA's Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati and the New York offices of Baltimore's Piper & Marbury LP and to recommend changes for these firms. The results are presented.

Del. judge on IP's frontline: his pivotal role in major patent case law pleases most but angers some

Article Abstract:

US District Court of Delaware Judge Roderick R. McKelvie is considered by the intellectual property (IP) lawyers who practice in his court to be the best patent law judge in the country. Appointed to the bench by Pres George Bush in 1992, McKelvie runs his court on a strict schedule, not permitting trials to last more than two weeks and fining lawyers who lie to the court. McKelvie says he was not impressed by IP lawyers when he first became a judge, but that they are improving.

Some just say 'no' to clients

Article Abstract:

Law firms feel caught between a rock and a hard place since corporate clients with recession-driven concerns about cost want to exert unwelcome degrees of control while the law firms, eager for business during a recession, are loath to turn down even difficult clients. Many large law firms keep detailed records of the billing policies preferred by each corporate client, while some deal with this problem by assigning teams to each client.